Live Assembly Elections 2017 Results: I Am Sure Next Govt Will Do Better Job, Says Outgoing UP CM Akhilesh Yadav

After days of feverish campaigning and over a month of polling across five states in the country, the judgement day has come. Who will win Uttar Pradesh? Will Okram Ibobi Singh come back as the chief minister of Manipur for the fourth term? Will AAP make a mark in Goa and Punjab? Will Captain Amarinder Singh see victory? Who will win in Uttarakhand? The answers will become clear in a matter of hours. For analysis, opinion on the outcomes follow our blog with key insights and observations and for updates on star candidates, big wins and losses click here.

Accepting the verdict of the people, Akhilesh Yadav conceded defeat saying, "I am sure the next government will do a better job."

"Perhaps people did not like the Express Way, perhaps they want a bullet train," Akhilesh told the media.

Despite the failure he said, "Alliance with Congress will continue."

Akhilesh said that the voters at the grassroot levels did not know what they wanted. "The poor in the state have told me that after demonetisation, the poor will get money from the black money that returns to the government. I want to see how much money they get."

"I will wait and watch how they do better work than the Samajwadi Party," he said.

After BJP saw big wins in the crucial states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a series of tweets, thanked people who voted for the BJP, workers of the party and said that he was extremely grateful for and was humbled by the support his party saw.

There was a special mention for Amit Shah for his work.

Gratitude to the people of India for the continued faith, support and affection for the BJP. This is very humbling & overwhelming.

Answering questions about a polarised campaign, Amit Shah said, "The people of Uttar Pradesh have gone beyond religion, people present here (journalists) are stuck on it, and should move forward too."

He said that the only reason that BJP won was because of Narendra Modi's governance. "The poor couldn't imagine having toilets, gas, electricity. The poor people of the country are all behind PM Modi. This has nothing to do with caste, religion or creed."

When asked if he was going to be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he said, "I have a lot of work, and I am not even a voter of UP."

Shah also credited schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana for the win, "More than 7 crore people in the country did not have bank accounts, PM Modi got them bank accounts."

3:36 pm: BJP Will Form Government In Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa And Manipur, Says Amit Shah

Addressing a press conference in the BJP headquarters in Delhi BJP President Amit Shah said that the elections results were exciting for the BJP.

"Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and in Manipur the BJP will form government. Even if we have lost in Punjab, we got a lot of votes."

"These results will give a new direction to the politics of this country," he said.

Thanking the workers for their work, he congratulated them. He also showered much praise on PM Modi.

"PM Modi is the most loved leader after independence," Shah said.

Shah said that there will be a parliamentary board meeting at 6 pm tomorrow after which the party will announce chief ministers.

3:15 pm Congress Wasn't In A Position To Win In Uttar Pradesh, Says Kapil Sibal

Congress leader Kapil Sibal, admitting defeat, told NDTV, "The Congress party was not in a position to be victorious in Uttar Pradesh either way. That is why we went for an alliance."

When asked if Rahul Gandhi was to be held responsible for their route, Sibal said, "If Modi went to Punjab and campaigned in Punjab, is the victory of the Congress a defeat for Modi?"

"The defeat or victory of a particular party is contextual. There is no real organisation on the ground or money power strong enough to take on the BJP," he said and added, "If you take the UP results, it astounding. It surprised me, it even surprised the BJP. I cannot attribute it to any logical reasons for it," he told NDTV.

She said that a journalist had spoken about this in one of her press conference. "I ignored him. But now I know that he was correct. Today he can't even be seen."

"It's a shocking result in BJP," she said.

Mayawati dared the BJP, "If they are not dishonest, the BJP should ask the Chief Election Commissioner to go back to the old ballot system."

"They are killing the democracy," adding that it was surprising that even in Muslim majority areas BJP had won. She also said, "People from the Muslim community are saying they did not vote for the BJP. Where have all these votes gone?"

Warning against the use of EVMs she said, "If EVMs continue to be used during elections in 2019, then there will be nothing left of this democracy."

She said that she has already written to the Election Commission seeking a probe into the 'malfunction' of EVMs.

1:35 pm: Win Of Modiji's Leadership, Says Smriti Irani

Looks like all credit is going to be given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for BJP's landslide win in Uttar Pradesh with even Smriti Irani saying it was the victory of Modi's leadership.

She said:

1:30 pm: People Have Again Reposed Faith In Narendra Modi, Says Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari was all praises for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying people had trusted his ability as a leader:

People have once again reposed faith in PM @narendramodi's ability to lead our country

Each time there is an election that the Congress loses, there are questions raised on Rahul Gandhi's leadership. After comments by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told HuffPost India, "Congress must rethink it's leadership if it wants to stay relevant."

12:16 pm: See How BJP UP State President Celebrated His Win

Indian elections are full of colour, but right ahead of Holi, this meant the festival arrived a day early for the party. The happiness was evident on the face of president of BJP's UP unit Keshav Prasad Maurya as he was showered in colours. See for yourself:

WATCH: BJP UP state president Keshav Prasad Maurya celebrates in Lucknow as BJP leading in Uttar Pradesh pic.twitter.com/PkH2RNMAqm

Speaking of the Congress defeat in Uttar Pradesh, leader Digvijaya Singh told NDTV, "I was not expecting this result in UP, but is the mandate of the people. Time has come for the national parties to campaign in state more aggressively."

"Time for introspection is over, it is time for action in those states where we don't have strong leaders," he said.

11:34 am: In 2014 People Voted With Hope, Now People Are Voting With Confidence, Says Javadekar

Speaking on BJP's big win on NDTV, party Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "In 2014, they voted with hope, now they are voting with confidence."

"We saw large number of women participation. People appreciated BJP's fight against black money," he said.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, speaking about BJP's landslide win in UP and Uttarakhand, said that political parties needed to shift their strategy from criticism to positive alternate if they wanted to beat the BJP.

"Punjab, Goa and Manipur would certainly suggest that the BJP isn't unbeatable but strategy needs to shift from criticism to positive alternate," Omar, who is also Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, tweeted.

Omar added that at present there was no leader with a pan-India acceptability who could take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019.

"At this rate, we might as well forget 2019 and start planning (and) hoping for 2024," he added.

11:24 am: Vote bank Politics Has Won, Says Congress's Rajiv Shukla

Even as the Congress is headed for a huge loss in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Congress leader Rajiv Shukla said that this was a victory of vote bank politics.

10:16 am: Rahul Will Of Course Take The Bullet In His Chest, Says Abhishek Manu Singhvi

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who had said that it would be a Congress win all along on Friday night, on Saturday said party Vice President Rahul Gandhi should not be singled out for the party's poor showing in Uttar Pradesh.

"If these (counting) trends persist, why single out Rahul Gandhi? He will of course take the bullet in his chest," Singhvi told NDTV.

These comments come even as Congress is heading towards a historic loss in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

10:07 am: Leading In 65 Seats, It's Celebration Time For Congress In Punjab

While it looks like it is heading for a huge defeat in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it is leading in 65 seats in Punjab. Hence party workers are already in celebration mode.

Like Uttar Pradesh, BJP has huge leads in Uttar Pradesh. At the moment, BJP is leading in 32 seats, Congress in 5 seats and BSP in 1 seat.

9:08 am: BJP's Sangeet Som Leading In Sardhana

Sangeet Som, who is known for his involvement in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riot cases, is leading from Uttar Pradesh's Sardhana. He is contesting against SP's Atul Pradhan.

He is already the sitting MLA from the constituency.

9:01 am: SP's Aparna Yadav Trailing In Lucknow Cantt

Samajwadi Party's Aparna Yadav is trailing from the Lucknow Cantt seat in Uttar Pradesh. This is her first election, but she was being looked at a candidate to watch out for since she is political royalty, coming from the Yadav family.

8:16 am: Irom Sharmila Calls Out Parties For Using Money, Muscle Power

Even as counting began for all five states, Manipur's Iron Lady Irom Sharmila called out parties for using money and muscle power.

"I do not feel much affected by the result. It depends upon the people's mindset. I don't feel much affected by it, because people can still change their minds and everybody knows muscle and money power is being openly used by parties," she told ANI.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said last night that the exit polls will get it wrong like they did during the Bihar Assembly Elections last year.

He said that the BJP wouldn't see success because of the language used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "These are against the idea and ethos of India. PM is acting in inverse proportion to the stature of the Office he holds," he said.

The reasons why Exit Polls get it wrong is because it is most successful in homogenous communities.: @DrAMSinghvi

Counting hasn't yet begun, but in Uttar Pradesh, the major parties are already claiming victory. While Rajendra Chaudhary of the Samajwadi Party said that their alliance with Congress will win, state BJP Keshav Prasad Maurya said that Mayawati's BSP and SP will be wiped out.

It isn't all good news for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, if the HuffPost-C Voter exit polls are to be believed. While the BJP has been claiming that it is bound to UP, the exit poll suggested that it may be a hung assembly in India's largest state. But the BJP will still be a the single largest party. However Today's Chanakya has predicted a BJP win.

In Punjab, the AAP is projected to come to power with 63 seats in the 117-seat house, coming close in Manipur and Goa.

In both Goa and Manipur it looks like the BJP is likely to come to power.

Most exit polls, except the HuffPost-C Voter exit poll, has predicted a BJP win in Uttarakhand.

The HuffPost-C Voter exit poll predicts that in Manipur too the BJP will emerge as the single largest party, while Axis My India predicts that Congress winners could outnumber the BJP.